1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat and more particularly to an aircraft seat having a force dissipation assembly which is operable to dissipate some of the forces which act upon the aircraft seat during an aircraft mishap such as a crash or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that airplanes vary considerably in their size, performance and function, from single engine sport planes, to large airliners or supersonic fighter aircraft. Before the 1930's when airplanes had wooden, wire-braced frames covered by fabric, the seating arrangements for occupants of such aircraft included only seatbelts which operated to restrain the occupant in their seat. However, as the performance of aircraft have improved and more specifically, the speed of same have increased, engineers have developed improved seating arrangements which have enhanced the safety of the passengers in the event of an aircraft mishap.
For example, many of the developments and improvements in seating for aircraft have been directed to the use of lightweight structural materials such as aluminum alloys, titanium, and composite materials such as fiber reinforced plastics which, when combined together, provide a seat which is lightweight, crashworthy, and durable.
Notwithstanding the improvements made in aircraft seating, the designers of aircraft have endeavored to make the overall aircraft as well as its individual components thereof increasingly crashworthy.
While the prior-art improvements in aircraft have operated with varying degrees of success, they have had several shortcomings which have detracted from their usefulness. More specifically, safety improvements made in aircraft have been largely directed to instrumentation which provides the aircraft crew with various warnings regarding unsafe operational conditions. Such enhanced instrumentation has included such devices as improved radars, sensors for detecting adverse conditions in engines or other mechanical assemblies and inertial navigational equipment to name but a few.
In aircraft where mishaps and crashes are more likely to occur, such as in military aircraft, increased emphasis has been directed to developing seating arrangements which will eject the passengers from the fuselage in the event that the aircraft is rendered nonairworthy through malfunction, destruction or other mishap. In aircraft such as large airliners, such seating is inappropriate because of the large number of seats, and further in view of the costs of installing such assemblies in the aircraft. In light of this, aircraft seating in large passenger aircraft has remained essentially unchanged over the past twenty years, although the risks of injury attendant to crashing in such aircraft has not diminished significantly.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have a seat and more specifically, an aircraft seat which has a force dissipation assembly which is operable to dissipate some of the force exerted on the aircraft seat during an aircraft mishap such as a crash or the like thereby improving the safety of the passenger.